Her Simple Strength
by Rizu Neko-Chan
Summary: She couldn't do much, but she would do all that she could. ::/KxI


(AN: _A happy hello to all of my past readers that might actually recognize me! I'm not back, per se. I'm on vacation. I don't know if I'll be writing on FFcnet after this again...maybe during the summer I will. Whatever the case, I hope this oneshot at least got a little attention...drop me a little review to let me know if I did good! A simple, "loved it!" or "this sucks!" would oblige, since I don't really care too much about review quality at the moment. There are more important things to worry about in life. =)_)

-::-

Through it all, a simple word was all that came to her mind; a single word that captured the essence of the depths she was drowning in, the utterly powerful rush that covered her from head to toe. _Intoxicating. _

Through it all, a simple word was all that came to his mind; a single word that captured the essence of the elation that made him feel like he was on top of the world, the excitement, the adrenaline. _Exhilarating. _

The clock ticked on. Their planets kept moving. But for them, time stood still.

-::-

The woods around them closed out the rest of the world. The blanket of snow muffled the sound of everything but their breathing. Delicate flakes of powdery fluff descended from the sky and landed noiselessly on the scenery around. In the background, a muffled static of sort if you stopped to listen. Reality was tuned out. Night had pulled its cloak over the planet. The shining, gibbous moon hung over the sky. Its light reflected off the crystal mirror of snow and created an lustrous light in Ichigo's eyes. She breathed in the scent of pine through her nose and let it out in a shuddering sigh. Her breath was released in a cloud of steam, billowing out into the sky. She bit her lip, twisting her fingers this way and that. She cracked her lips, wanting to say something. But she was still found at a loss for words.

She closed her mouth.

"So this is your snow." His words seemed to cut through the air, as icy and sharp as a blade. Ichigo nodded slowly.

"…yes, this is snow."

Kish closed his eyes slowly and took a heavy, deep breath. His back remained toward Ichigo as he spoke.

"This is not snow. This is _your _snow. Snow isn't beautiful. Snow isn't gentle. Snow doesn't come in gentle flakes. It comes in clouds. Snow is a never-ending cloud of daggers, not a sugary rain like this is."

"What's the point of arguing over snow?" Ichigo murmured quietly. Kish's ears didn't fail to pick up this remark. His eyes downcast, his words became more dull and lulling than sharp as they were before.

"You're right. What's the point when you've never suffered. You've never felt the pain. You don't know what snow is like in its true form."

"You're arguing again," Ichigo said curtly, frowning. Kish let out a humorous laugh.

"Hehe…fine. You win. I keep arguing over stupid things anyway."

"But snow isn't stupid."

"See, there you go. Arguing," Kish said, standing up from his stump. "Can you think of time where we've talked and not argued?" Kish looked over his shoulder at Ichigo, who's befuddled face showed no sign of remembrance. The triumphant alien, who was once again correct…smirked. Ichigo breathed a deep sigh.

"…actually, no. No I can't."

"Hm," Kish mused. He turned his head back to the front, gazing off into the trees. "Let's change that."

Ichigo cocked her head to one side.

"Um…okay…not arguing…"

This all seemed extraordinarily silly to Ichigo. But what else was she to do? Without her pendant, in her pajamas, standing in the middle of some woods in who-knows-where…what was she to do? She had to say, Kish had really outdone himself this time. But when she had expected something more…well, extreme from him, Kish seemed peaceful, almost silent. Why had he so suddenly swept her off here in the first place? This was the first time she had seen him in over a year. Why now? Why here? Questions were jammed up in her head. Questions that remained unanswered by Kish, who had sat silent while Ichigo had asked them in a panic. He only spoke when he felt like speaking. Ichigo was in no condition to make Kish angry or give him a reason to break his peacefulness. So she went along with whatever he said.

What else was there to do?

"Okay, Kish," Ichigo said, "Why am I here?"

"Not that," Kish replied quietly, but firmly.

He first turned his head, then his whole body to the right. Then he began to pace, folding his hands behind him. He looked deep in thought, something Ichigo almost never saw in him. Kish seemed so different to her. Oddly, the face Kish had on reminded her of another one she saw before. It was the same face Kish had when he was thinking of what to say after Ichigo had saved Earth, woken up…after she was holding Masaya's hand, apologizing,…thanking Kish. This was the same perplexed face that had confused her over a year ago. Here it was, on Kish's face once more. Ichigo didn't know what to think of it.

"Fine then," Ichigo muttered after a long silence. "Then…um…what's your favorite color?" She blushed. The question sounded better in her head than it did aloud. Kish seemed to think it was funny too, because he let out a little snort and grinned. "What?" Ichigo cried, flustered. "I'm trying to think of something that we can't argue over!"

"Alright, Kitten-- my favorite color is red," Kish replied, obviously trying not to laugh. Ichigo smiled. They weren't arguing.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because it's a regal, rich color. It reminds me of life because it's the color of blood," he said. The words slid off his tongue as though he had rehearsed them. "And you?"

"Oh, my favorite color. Uh, it's probably--"

"Pink," Kish interrupted. "Am I right?"

"…no, actually," Ichigo replied smugly. "Everyone on the team used to think that too because my Mew uniform is all pink, but my favorite color is yellow. It's so sunny and happy, and it reminds me of summer."

"Interesting," Kish remarked. "We're not arguing, are we? This is kinda fun."

"Next question:" Ichigo said quickly, "Why am I here?"

"Ah-ah-ah, that's another off-limits question," Kish teased. He smirked a bit, glanced at Ichigo for a second, then continued his pacing. Ichigo pouted.

"Hmph. Fine then. I'm not talking to you if you don't tell me why I'm here."

"Have it your way," Kish said, shrugging. "If you're not going to talk, then I'll just leave and you'll be stuck here."

"Ergh!" Ichigo groaned in frustration, stomping her foot. "Okay, fine! Um…another question…why are you here?" Kish stopped pacing. "Wait, that's probably an off-limits one, huh?" Ichigo muttered. She sighed.

"No, that one I'll answer," Kish said. Ichigo perked up. Finally, some information. Kish teleported up into a tree branch not very far off of the ground. He didn't bother to look down at Ichigo as he spoke. "I'm here because you're here."

"Is that it?" Ichigo was confused. What kind of answer was that? It didn't really answer the question. If it did, it did so very vaguely.

"That's it," Kish replied simply. Now his behavior was beginning to scare Ichigo. He was not only abnormally calm, but abnormally quiet.

"Another question: why are you so quiet?" Ichigo asked. Kish sat in silence, long enough to allow Ichigo to listen to the silence and the almost inaudible static of snow falling.

"Because this is the last time I'll be able to hear the pleasant sounds of Earth. Two of my favorite sounds: silence, and your voice." Ichigo was flattered, to say the least. But this answer just rose more questions in her head, as did most of his answers. The purpose of asking questions is to get answers, but this purpose was being defeated as more questions arose from one answer than asking the question was worth. Ichigo's head was reeling with questions.

"You're not coming back here again?" Ichigo asked quietly. Kish remained silent. A forbidden question, Ichigo figured. She bit her lip. What was going on?

"Are you going to die?"

The question came out of her mouth before Ichigo had time to stop it. She clasped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. She held her breath. Ichigo wished so badly that she could control her speech better, because now she had probably upset Kish. Yet she needed answers. She cared about what happened to him. Ichigo wanted to know what was happening.

Kish was silent for several seconds. Then, he disappeared from his tree branch. He reappeared behind Ichigo, where he slowly hugged her into him, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. Ichigo's head felt light and her face was hot.

Kish spoke into Ichigo's hair. "A mission. My time is up. I'm going to be embarking on a mission to a distant planet far, far from mine. Farther than Earth is from my planet. I and a team of nine others are assigned to do as we did to Earth-- take it over, populate it. Our planet is becoming too crowded. We need another place to live. But this mission…" Kish took a deep breath as Ichigo held hers, "…it's suicide. This new planet is covered in fire and smoke. Giant beasts roam its surface. It's living hell." He paused. He buried his face in Ichigo's hair, breathing in the scent of her hair. "Ichigo…I'm going to hell, and I haven't even died yet!" Ichigo could hear his voice breaking as he spoke. Even though she hesitated, she knew what she had to do. She turned around and, slowly, gently, she embraced Kish in a hug. She rested her chin on his shoulder and pulled him close.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I wish I could help you, I really do." Kish said nothing. His arms pulled her close, grasping her like she was his last life source.

Ironically, she was. To him, she was the last thing he had worth living for. She was the last bit of joy he could grasp onto.

"Kish, I…I know that I'm helpless to do anything, but I want to help you. I'm just…I'm so sorry…" Ichigo's murmuring was music to his hears. Kish cherished the sound of her voice. He tried to retain the frequency. He wanted to remember the sound. He wanted to remember what she sounded like until the end of time. Until the end of time, he wanted to hear her voice in his head, telling her those words.

"_I want to help you…"_

"You are helping," Kish insisted. "Just being here, just talking to me. It helps. Being near to you helps me. All I want you to do is stay here with me. That's all I want right now."

It's funny how a person changes when they know their time is coming to an end. Kish's words almost brought Ichigo to tears. She tightened her grip on him protectively. Even though he had to leave, even though he was never going back home, even though he was about to face hell, she could hold him now. Just in that moment, she could keep him safe. She could feel his touch and know he was okay.

"Ichigo…" Kish murmured, "…hold still." Ichigo did as she was told. Kish pulled out of Ichigo's embrace. Ichigo knew just by looking in his eyes what was going on. Yet she didn't understand exactly why she didn't try to stop him.

His influence on her…_intoxicating._

Kish pulled her forward towards him and gently laid his frosty lips on hers. Fire sparked up in Ichigo's heart and heated her cold body warm again. Kish pushed a little farther into to the kiss before he released her quickly.

Her electricity he felt…_exhilarating._

He backed off a step or two, eyes lit up and focused to hers, then he turned around sharply. Ichigo moved to step towards him.

"I told you to hold still," Kish repeated. His voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper. "Ichigo…this is goodbye."

"Kish, don't leave yet," Ichigo sputtered. " I--you just need to know that--you--you're an amazing person. I'm glad to have met you!" Kish turned his head to look at her.

Then, Ichigo did something she didn't think she'd have the strength to do.

She smiled.

She honestly, truly smiled. Kish saw her smile. And that made Kish smile too. The light of the snow made his eyes look iridescent. They were soft and beautiful to Ichigo, who was captured into their shine.

"Ichigo…I will always love you, Ichigo. Don't forget me."

A wind came over her. And she was back in her room. And he was gone.


End file.
